The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention(s). It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or material, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of systems for alerting vehicle drivers of unattended children left in vehicles, and more specifically relates to a child detection and alert system for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
On hectic and busy days, it can be very easy for adults to experience momentary confusion and lapses in judgment. Juggling the demands of career and family, parents can become particularly susceptible to this, despite their best intentions and diligence. Rushing from work to collect children from school or day care, a parent may have to complete many other errands before finally reaching home, such as making a bank deposit or picking up a few items from the market for dinner. The pressures of balancing a career with family responsibilities can often leave a parent or babysitter absent minded. Sometimes, in a family having older children as well as having an infant, the responsibility for caring for the infant can be shared. When the parent becomes too preoccupied, however, delegating the responsibility of exactly who is tasked with caring for the infant can be overlooked. There are increasing reports of children being accidently left behind in their car seats, with the windows rolled up on a hot day. Unfortunately, leaving a child alone in a car, even for a short period of time, can lead to tragic circumstances, especially on hot days. The statistics of child deaths relating to heat exposure from being left behind in cars is both alarming and sad.
As disturbing as the thought may be, the facts are indisputable. All it takes is a few minutes for the temperature inside a car, even with the windows cracked, to rise to dangerous levels. According to experts, even on a mild day at 73 degrees outside, an SUV can heat up to 100 degrees in 10 minutes, and to 120 in just 30 minutes. As the outdoor temperature rises, so does the heat buildup in a vehicle. At 90 degrees outside, the interior of a vehicle can heat up to 160 degrees within several minutes. Children's developing respiratory system makes them particularly vulnerable to heat exhaustion. As the heat rises, their body temperatures rise. An infant in a broken down car in 110-degree heat can get in trouble very quickly. Infants tend to heat up very quickly, rapidly approaching the temperature of their environment. Sadly, dozens of children die each year as a result of having been left alone in motor vehicles. A solution is needed to eliminate these types of tragic child deaths.
Various attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,147 to Suneel Arora; U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,522 to Stephen R. Flanagan; and U.S. Publication No. 2007/0075574 to Reginald James. This art is representative of systems for alerting vehicle drivers of unattended children left in vehicles. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the invention as claimed.
Ideally, a systems for alerting vehicle drivers of unattended children left in vehicles should provide safety, convenience and effectiveness, and yet, would operate reliably and be manufactured at a modest expense. Thus, a need exists for a reliable child detection and alert system for a vehicle to avoid the above-mentioned problems.